Town Square

Shell Gas Station- TV at pumps

Original post made
by frequent shopper, Blossom Valley,
on Dec 18, 2007

What's with the TV's at the pumps at the Shell gas station on Miramonte and Cuesta? ANNOYING!!! They are activated to play when you pump gas. I don't need to be entertained while I'm at he pump. Please get rid of them.

i agree, i hate the damn thing. i don't mind that they put them there to raise a little extra revenue (particularly it if lowers the price of the gas), but how about a button that instantly shuts it off if someone wants to "opt out"?

Posted by Peter
a resident of Old Mountain View
on Dec 21, 2007 at 8:39 pm

I agree! I must say that this is enough to make me take my business to another station. And now I find that they are in more and more stations. I was at AMPM in Santa CLara and they had one! Although, they has weather and news, and less advertising. But enough!!!

Just wait, pretty soon one of the gas chains (I can't remember which one) will start offering Google Maps at the pump. Now I get to wait even longer for the doofus in front of me to figure out how to use the credit card slot AND to print out directions to Tahoe.

Now all we need is an iTunes hotspot at each pump so we can load up our iPods for the drive home.

Posted by An Interested Reader
a resident of another community
on Dec 23, 2007 at 5:51 pm

Why the hell do you people care so much? I find it annoying, personally, when people decide to get ticked off over small things such as this. The year is 2007; times are changing, just accept it. Can we focus on more important issues please?

If I were alive 150 years ago, checking in to the Shell rest stop on the El Camino with my horse for water and to recoup, had there been a town crier next to my trough that wouldn't shut up after repeated requests, I would have shot him in the foot. It would be nice to have a big red "Shut Up" button on the pumps. Problem is, too many ads on the radio already, so when refueling, drivers should have a "quiet" moment.

Posted by Larry
a resident of Blossom Valley
on Dec 31, 2007 at 7:43 am

My local Albertson's had similar advertising at the check stand. Thankfully they dropped the annoying in your face advertising when they became Lucky's. The Shell station I used to go to blasted me with these ads so I told them why I was leaving them as a customer. Now I find the Arco station I'm going to has added these same nasty pushy ads. I guess if I were a sheeple I'd just accept it.

Posted by John L
a resident of Shoreline West
on Dec 10, 2008 at 12:04 pm

For people like me, one of the main problems with rapid-fire advertisements at gas stations is that we have already been subjected to too much "spam". People who don't feel that some particular type of advertising is beyond threshold should at least consider that:
1. It IS beyond threshold for a substantial percentage of their fellow humans.
2. New advertising channels chip away at what is considered unethical until eventually you find advertising that IS beyond your threshold.
3. We don't get a gas discount due to advertising. It's only about what the market will bear. That's why when Mountain View's gas prices were $4.20 the price was still $2.20 in most of the US.

For me, another distasteful thing about the advertisements is that it's another example of short-termist profiteering. Shell's MBAs were probably applauded for raising profits by 2% with advertising, with no one thinking ahead 5 months to when Shell had lost 20% of their customers. So many decent businesses are plagued by charlatan MBAs (not all MBAs mind you) that turn a highly visible quick profit while burning the amorphous long-term reputation of the company and the quality of the product.

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